Expert: Paul Wagner - 8/1/2004

Question
I have purchased a reflective telescope second hand but I only want to view distant landscapes mountainous regions etc.I know nothing about telescopes and didn,t realise that the image would be upside down! Is there any thing I can do to correct this or have I bought the wrong type of telescope?

Regards

Bob Taylor

Answer
Dear Bob:

Sorry to say, you really have bought the wrong kind of telescope for use here on Earth.  Astronomic scopes all have images that are upside down, because they have fewer lenses and mirrors...that keeps the distortion low and light transmission high.

You can buy an "image inverter" for many scopes--but beware.  They are pretty expensive ($100?) and they need a particularly long eyepiece travel--if your scope's focal point is close to the tube, you probably won't be able to get these to work.

It's not all bad news--the scope you bought should have resale value.  And as an astronomer, I have to encourage you to at least make an effort to look at the moon with it...you might get hooked on the big picture!

Paul Wagner